Metal cleaning apparatus



Dec. 10, 1957 J. A. FALER' ET AL METAL CLEANING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filad Oct. 17, 1955 Hill INVENTOR. JOHN A. FALER By GRANT W. ALLEN ROBERT H. STANTON QQM Q- Qum'tru ATTORNEYS Dec. 10, 1957 J. A. FALER ETAL 2,815,614 METAL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 DRAIN -m DRAIN aUNLOAD LOAD a SALT BATH INVENTOR. JOHN A. FALER 4 y GRANT w. ALLEN 4: ROBERT l'l. STANTON &- @mw emu: ATTORNEYS Dec. 10, 1957 FALER ETAL 2,815,614

METAL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 JNVEN TOR. JOHN A. FALER By GRANT w. ALLEN ROBERT v H. STANTON Quilt/n) fiw ATTORNEYS Dec. 10, 1957 J FALER ETAL 2,815,614

METAL CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5s 52 I a 53 I 'l f 54 L INVENTOR! JOHN A. FALER 1T 1!] BY GRANT w. ALLEN ROBERT H. STANTON Qm g @arx:

ATTORNEYS United States 2,815,614 METAL CLEANING APPARATUS This invention relates to a metal cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for cleaning metal parts in a salt bath electrolytic tank, draining the excess liquid from the parts, rinsing these parts in a separate rinse tank, and finally draining the rinsing liquid.

In the metal wor 'ng arts, it is common in many processes to cleanse the metal. work-pieces by immersion in an electrolytic molten salt bath such as the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,468,006. Thereafter, the work-pieces are rinsed of the electrolytic salt solution and prepared for further working.

Where small parts are cleaned by this electrolytic process, it is desirable to tumble and agitate these parts within the salt bath to obtain a thorough contact with the salt liquid. Thereafter, it is desirable to drain the excess salt liquid from these parts before inserting these parts in a rinsing tank to prevent the loss of the relatively expensive salt bath material. Where the parts are small and have intricate shapes, it is diflicult to remove the excess salt. Moreover, there is a handling problem involved in immersing these small metal objects within the salt bath, as well as later immersing these objects in the rinsing tank.

Therefore, it is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus which includes a rotary drum adapted to hold small metal parts and to dip these parts into the salt bath tank and the rinsing tank.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an apparatus for dipping a drum, containing the small metal parts successively into a salt bath and into a rinsing tank, and also, to hold the drum above the level of the liquid in the salt tank after immersion therein for a sufficient length of time to provide proper drainage of the salt solution back into the tank and to repeat this drainage process after immersion in the rinsing tank.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rotary drum constructed so as to facilitate loading and unloading of the drum with small parts by mechanical means and to eliminate manual handling of these small parts, and further constructed to agitate the parts for cleaning and draining.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparentupon reading the following description of which the attached drawings form a part.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. ,1 illustrates a front elevation of the apparatus constructedin accordance with my invention, and wherein the drum is shown in dottedlines in its salt bath immersed position.

Fig. 2 is'a top view,- partially in cross-section, of the apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, and is taken on lines 22 of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 isa side view of theapparatus of Figs. 1 and 2 taken in the direction of arrow '3 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically the four operative positions of the rotary drum.

' Fig. 5 is 'a sectional view showing the means for roatent O 2,815,614 Patented Dec. 10, 1957 tating the rotary drum and the means for rotating the arm upon which the drum is mounted.

Fig. 6 is an end vew of the drum, per se, and

Fig. 7 is a top view of the drum. I

Fig. 8 is a side view of the hopper and attached mechanism for loading the various parts into the drum.

Fig. 9 is a front view of Fig. 8.

Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate the unloading chute in a side and front view respectively.

General operation With reference to Fig. 4, which is a schematic diagram of the operation of my apparatus, it can be seen that a loading drum 1, mounted upon an arm 2 at a pivotal connection 3, is provided to support and hold a large number of small metal parts to be dipped and cleaned in a salt bath solution.

The arm 2 is pivotally mounted at 4 to a support. The structural details of the mounting and the arm and the remainder of the apparatus will be described later.

A salt bath tank 5 and a rinsing tank 6, usually containing water, are provided on opposite sides of the pivot 4.

In operation, the drum is loaded with small parts through a loading chute, generally designated as 7, while the drum is partially immersed in the salt bath tank 5. The drum is rotated within this tank and thereby the small metal objects to be cleaned are tumbled and thrown about within the drum to thereby make good contact with and to simultaneously agitate the salt bath solution. To facilitate the passage of salt bath solution through the drum, the drum walls are perforated.

After the drum has been rotated a suflicient period of time Within the salt bath solution to thoroughly cleanse all of the metal parts, the arm 2 is pivoted about the pivot point 4 to raise the drum above the level of the salt bath tank. In this position, the drum is constantly rotating as it was while in the salt bath solution, atnd therefore, the excess salt solution drains from the small parts and the drum back into the salt bath tank 5. By means of retating the drum, the parts are constantly being agitated and thrown about so crevasses or odd shaped recesses within the small parts is eventually thrown out to be drained back into the tank.

After the drainage step, the arm 2 rotates further to partially immerse the tank 1 into the rinsing tank '6. Within this tank, the rotation of the drum agitates the water or other rinsing solution within the tank to wash off and rinse the small metal parts. Following this, the drum is raised above the rinsing tank and continues rotating to thereby drain excess water or other rinsing fluid back into the rinsing tank.

After the drainage has taken place, the direction of rotation ofthe drum is reversed and by means of guide vanes within the drum, the small metal parts are forced towards one end'wall of the drum which is provided with an opening throughwhich the small parts may pass. The small parts, falling out of this opening, land in an unloading chute, generally designated as 8, from which they are collected in tote boxes or other conveying carriers.

At this point, the general operation and conception of the apparatus has been described. The specific construction of the apparatus will now be described in conjunction with the attached drawings.

The cleaning and rinsing mechanism Referring to Figs. 1-3, the details of structure of my apparatus are illustrated and show the salt bath tank 5.

The loading chute is these will be described in detail later.

that any liquid caught within the tanks a Uv-shaped shield .is provided. The shield is actually a cover for the tank, and functions to retain the hot gases given off within the shield and to prevent these gases from escaping around the shop where the apparatus is in use. It isidesirableito provide an exhaust 16 at the top of the shieldto'pull out-any hot gases which may accumulate. However, this structure forms no part of my invention and therefore will not be described in any greater detail'than that given above.

As previously mentioned, a rotary drum is mounted within the apparatus and this rotary drum can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 in the salt bath immersed position.

In Figs. 6 and 7, the drum is illustrated per se, and is shown as comprising a pair of end walls and 21 and a circumferential cylindrical wall 22 which cylindrical wall is perforated as at 23 to permit the free passage of the liquid from either tank through the drum, as Well as the free drainage of this liquid from the drum.

A shaft 24 is fastened to the end wall 20 and extends therefrom for the purposes of mounting and rotating the drum.

The end wall 21 is provided with a central opening 25 which is used for loading small parts into the drum. This same end wall is likewise provided with peripheral openings which are used for unloading the parts from the drum. The walls 20 and 21 are reinforced by reinforcing ribs 26 of any suitable configuration.

Secured to the wall 22 of the drum, inside the drum, are curved guide vanes 28. In operation, when the drum is rotated while partially full of small parts, the rotation of the drum is normally against the direction of curvature of the vanes 28. Therefore, the small parts move toward the end wall 20 which is the wall to which the driving and supporting shaft 24 is connected. Thus, a major portion of the load of the parts are in the area near the supporting shaft 24. Thus, the heavy load, rather than being cantilevered at a distance from the drive shaft, actually positions itself automatically in the vicinity of the drive shaft to reduce the moment arm.

However, when it is desired to unload the parts from the drum, the drum is rotated in the opposite direction; namely, the direction of the curvature of the vanes. With this type of rotation, the small parts tend, due to centrifugal force as well as the direction of curvature of the vanes, to move toward the wall 21. This motion of the parts therefore funnels the parts toward the exhaust openings 27 through which the parts pass and fall through to be collected by the unloading chute.

With reference to Fig. 5, the drum 1 is shown as having its support shaft journaled in a bearing 29 which is secured to one end of the pivoted arm 2, previously described. The opposite end of the arm 2 connects with a hollow shaft 36 which is journaled within bearings 31 which in turn are supported at 32 by the bed of the machine or some support adjacent the apparatus.

The hollow shaft is driven by means of a sprocket 35, a sprocket chain 36 and a driving sprocket 37 which is connected to any suitable motor 38 (see Fig. 3). Thus, operation of the motor 38 to rotate the driving sprocket 37 causes rotation of the sprocket 35, rotation of the shaft 30 and thereby pivots the arm 2 to place the attached drum in one of the four operating positions.

The arm 2 oscillates 180, and suitable and well known means are provided to index the arm in its oscillating movement to oscillate and traverse a semi-circular path shown in Fig. 4 and to stop in its four positions. Such means is neither shown nor claimed here because it is conventional and forms no part of the present invention.

Journaled and fitted within the hollow shaft 30 is the second shaft 34. This shaft is driven by means of a sprocket 39, chain 39a, and a motor driven sprocket 40. The rotation of the motor driven sprocket 40 causes rotation of the. shaft through the chain and shaft sprocket 39 to rotatea second sprocket 41 at the opposite end of the shaft 34, a chain 42 and finally a sprocket 43' B permanently affixed to the shaft 24 on the drum 1. This rotation previously discussed causes a constant rotation of the drum 1 during the operations of loading, draining, rinsing, and draining again. Thereafter, the motor driven sprocket 40 is reversed to rotate the drum in its opposite direction for unloading as mentioned.

The loading mechanism In order to facilitate loading the small parts into the drum and particularly to obtain a uniform load in the drum during each loading, I have provided a mechanism, generally designated as 7, which may be secured to the salt bath tank 5 by means of support posts 50. Supported upon these posts 50 is the loading chute broadly designated as 7, which comprises a hopper 51 formed as a funnel with an open bottom 53 to which is secured a bottom exhaust tube 52. Telescoped over this tube 52 is a telescopically mounted tube 54 which is slid up and down upon the tube 52 by means of a linkage 55 connected to a manual handle 56 pivoted at 57 to a support post 50. Thus, rotation of the handle 56 by manual means results in moving the telescopic tube 56 either toward or away from the hopper.

When the tube moves away from the hopper, it moves through an opening in the shield 15 described in Fig. 1 and enters into the opening 25 in the end wall 21 of the drum 1.

Thus, in operation, the machine attendant shovels in the small parts through the top of the hopper 51. If desired, a stop means may be provided at the open end 53 of the funnel to hold all the parts within the funnel until the funnel is completely loaded. Thereafter, the stop means may be withdrawn. However, this withdrawing is accomplished after the telescopic tube 54 is inserted into the opening 25 in the drum. Thus, the parts slide through the tubes 52 and 54 and fall into the drum where they remain during the immersing in the salt bath. The loading of the drum is accomplished while the drum is already dipped into the salt bath to thereby eliminate a separate loading position for the drum.

The unloading apparatus The unloading apparatus broadly designated as 8 comprises a U-shaped chute 60 supported by links 61 which are in turn pivotally connected at 62 to the apparatus shield 15. This construction may be seen in Figs. 3 and 12 and 13.

In addition, at the lower end of the chute 60 is a restricting slide 63 to funnel the parts into a smaller area such as a pail or tote box and the like.

Likewise, the opposite side of the chute has a stop lip 65 to prevent the chute from being entirely withdrawn from the shield 15 when it is in its outermost position.

The operation of the unloading apparatus is as follows:

Normally, the unloading chute 60 is in its outermost position with its stop 65 in engagement with the shield 15 of the apparatus. When it is desired to unload, and this unloading takes place after the rinsing solution has been drained from the drum and the drum is in its position above the rinsing tank, the shield is manually pushed inwardly into the shield so that it appears as shown in dotted line in Fig. 3, namely, with the base of the U- shaped portion 60 underneath a portion of the lower edge of the drum. Thereafter, the drum is rotated in its opposite direction so that the parts are guided through the opening 27 in the drum by guide vanes 28. The parts then fall through the openings 27, slide down the chute 60, and are funnelled by the extension 63 into any ordinary conveying container.

Conclusion It can be seen, after reading the foregoing description, that the apparatus which I have provided is arranged to perform a five-step operation: first, simultaneously load and immerse small parts within a salt bath; second, drain the salt bath from the parts and the drum; third,

rinse the parts in a rinse tank; and fourth, drain the parts of the rinsing solution. Thereafter, the direction of rotation of the drum is reversed and the parts are unloaded out of the drum by means of the guide vanes within the drum.

The loading mechanism is simplified and requires a minimum amount of manual handling as does the unloading mechanism. Moreover, the means for moving the drum and rotating the drum are simple, inexpensive to construct, and are constructed so that there is a minimum number of parts to get out of order.

This type of apparatus eliminates a good part of the problem of the handling and cleansing the small parts which previously had been handled and cleaned by means of dipping baskets wherein a great deal of time consuming labor was required to remove the basket from the tanks and put them into the tanks, and also, wherein there was no agitation of the parts or proper drainage of the surplus liquid from the parts as is provided in the case of my foregoing apparatus.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claim. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of one operative embodiment of my invention, and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Having fully described at least one operative embodiment of my invention, I now claim:

A metal cleaning apparatus comprising a perforated cylindrical drum having one end rotatably mounted or journalled upon the end of an arm whose other end is pivotally mounted upon a support, a bath tank on one side of the arm pivot and a rinse tank on the other side of the arm pivot, said arm being arranged to oscillate in a semi-circular path and to have four operative positions as follows: one position in which the drum is immersed in the bath tank, a second position in which the drum is held above the bath tank, a third position in which the drum is immersed in the water tank, and a fourth position in which the drum is held above the water tank, said apparatus also including means to constantly rotate the drum on the arm end and means to pivotally swing the arm through its four positions, said apparatus also including means for loading the drum with parts to be immersed in the respective tanks when the drum is in its first position and means for receiving the parts unloaded from the drum when the drum is in its fourth position, said drum having loading and unloading openings at the end opposite the supported end, the loading opening being coaxial with the drum axis, and the unloading opening being near the outer wall of the drum, and inside curved vanes secured to the peripheral walls of the drum and curved towards the unloading opening, and means for rotating the drum constantly on its axis in one direction during loading, and in the opposite direction during unloading, the latter direction being in the direction of curvature of the vanes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,861 Danenhower Nov. 3, 1908 954,632 Hughes Apr. 12, 1910 1,034,961 Birkenkamp Aug. 6, 1912 1,297,400 Ransohoif Mar. 18, 1919 1,619,626 Mosel Mar. 1, 1927 1,995,779 Pencovic Mar. 26, 1935 2,161,125 Bigelow June 6, 1939 2,392,911 Gaudet Jan. 15, 1946 2,427,388 Curran Sept. 16, 1947 2,504,714 McGehee Apr. 18, 1950 2,558,138 Johnson June 26, 1951 

